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Prophetic Events and Christ's Warning to His People

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Prophetic Events and Christ's Warning to His People

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Prophetic Events and Christ's Warning to His People

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Lets look at some of the plain and clear warnings that Christ gave to us, His people, about the time of the end—how to prepare, how to make sure we're ready, how to make sure we're in the right attitude.

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Are you watching world events and what's going on? Are we aware, brethren, that we are living in the time of the end? {Are we} watching things beginning to develop in the world, things happening right before our very eyes that have been prophesied for a very long time, things Mr. Armstrong spoke about many, many years ago and told us about, warned us about, that would be coming at the end of the age?

Let's take a brief look at what's happening in the Middle East and realize that as we watch the news, we're watching developments in prophecy be fulfilled. Turn with me to a few well-known  scriptures in Daniel, chapter 11, as we begin this sermon, which will be about the warnings. I'm going to focus a little bit on what we're seeing happen, but then we're going to take a look at the warnings that Christ gives to His people, to the church, to all of us individually, that as we see these events happening and coming to pass, how we can be preparing and what we should be doing to make sure we are ready, no matter when the end of this age comes. So here in Daniel 11—we know these verses pretty well, brethren—beginning in verse 40:

Daniel 11:40At the time of the end...that term is used in a number of places in Daniel and other end-time prophecies, "the time of the end." And the time of the end, of course, can extend for years. We're in THE time of the end when these end-time events prophesied will be coming to pass. So, at the time of the end, the king of the South shall attack him, and the next part of the verse tells who "him" is. It's the king of the North, and the king of the North shall come against him, the king of the South, like a whirlwind, like a blitzkrieg—and we understand this, in God's church, that the king of the South will be the development of the Islam world, the Arab states. Others have different points of view or perspective; but you've all read our books on prophecy and our pamphlets that kind of put it all together, these prophecies; and we still believe very strongly that the king of the South will be a union of powerful Islamic countries with a strong leader. And the king of the North will be what we're seeing happen in Europe—Europe already rising but growing very powerful and very strong, but, of course, having problems, like many countries are with immigration from the Islamic countries and the different culture clashes that are taking place there.

So God's word is telling us that there's coming a time toward the end of this age when this Islamic power will come to pass. There will be certain unity, a strong leader; and they will become a power in their own right, the king of the South. And they will attack or move against the king of the North, because we all understand that the Islamic goal and belief is that, of course, their religion is the superior one; and their goal is to overtake other countries of the world. I'm not an expert in Islam, but I've read enough and know enough that they're passionate about their belief that theirs is the right religion and they worship the right God and that all nations should come under their law and their belief and their way of life. So here we see this, and it's saying the king of the North will react to the king of the South. Whether it's control of the oil or whatever it is, the king of the North will react like a blitzkrieg with chariots, horsemen, of course, modern tanks and weapons today, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, conquer them, and pass through.

Verse 41 – He shall also, the king of the North, enter the Glorious Land, that means the Holy Land, and many countries shall be overthrown...This is when modern Israel, the Jewish state, will be conquered...but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, which would refer primarily to Turkey today, Moab, Jordan, and the prominent "leaders," it says in the NIV translation, the prominent leaders of Ammon. Of course, that's part of Jordan as well. So we're talking about the Middle East here—a king of the North and a king of the South.

Verse 42 – He, the king of the North, shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. A specific, direct reference to Egypt, and we see what's happening there today. So it does make you believe that the king of the South shall be in Egypt, or maybe that will be the strongest country of the alliance. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver—that seems to indicate that Egypt will be dominant at the end time—and the king of the North shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels, or be subdued, as other translations say.

So the king of the North is moving into that whole area and conquering those nations. As we watch world news, and if you're watching, as commentators are saying, dramatic change is taking place in that part of the world, which is extremely significant. All who understand Bible prophecy realize what is happening; and here, you and I are living, watching it happen, watching it come to pass, Bible prophecy beginning to be fulfilled.

Let's drop down to chapter 12 and read verse 1:

Daniel 12:1 – At that time, that means the time of the end, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people—so it's really good, isn't it, to be reminded that God is in charge and in control and has mighty powerful angels like Michael—and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation...Christ referred to this scripture in Matthew 24, that there is coming a great time of trouble in the future. You and I, depending on your age and your health, could live to see the culmination of all of these events take place. It's very possible. You know, ten years, twenty years, an awful lot of things can happen; and they can happen quicker than that, as well...even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, and this is very important, because it's talking about us, God's people. At that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.

So, there are a few references of scripture, as you probably know, about this special book. Notice another one of them in Malachi, chapter 3, verse 16. God has a record, whatever that may be, whether it's a spiritual book or on something like what we might call a computer, we don't know for sure; but the Bible calls it a book, and here we read in Malachi, chapter 3, verse 16, another reference to it. It says, in beautiful scriptures that we meditate upon:

Malachi 3:16 – Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, which is what we do, isn't it, brethren? You know, we fear God, {but} we're not afraid of God. I'm beyond that, being afraid or cowering at God; but that fear is an awe and a respect—knowing God determines everything in the world, including my destiny—that kind of reverent awe, fear, or respect of God. And we speak to one another often, and the Lord listened and heard them, so God listens to our conversations. He hears them, and so a book of remembrance was written before Him, here it's called a "book of remembrance," written before Him, for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. In the margin it says this could be translated "those who esteem His name," or "honor His name" or "love His name," who love God. And so, God has a record that He is keeping of those who love Him, fear Him, serve Him, obey Him, and who honor and esteem His name—a book of remembrance. Beautiful scriptures!

Verse 17  "They shall be Mine," says the Lord of hosts, "On the day that I make them My jewels," or the margin says, "My special treasure."So God's people, those who love Him, are called His special treasure, His jewels. "And I will spare them," or "I will have compassion on them," some translations say, "as a man spares his own son who serves him." Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

So these are incredible verses, aren't they, brethren, as we're watching world events take place before our very eyes in our lifetime.

Let's go now to some of the teachings and warnings of Christ who inspired this book, who knew it well and quoted it often. Let's begin in Matthew 24. What we're going to look at now are some of the plain and clear warnings that Christ gave to us, His people, about the time of the end—how to prepare, how to make sure we're ready, how to make sure we're in the right attitude...we heard Mr. Pulliam talking about that so well in his unique way, you know, that we must have the right spirit and heart and the right attitude. Matthew 24, and we know this one, verse 3, quite well.

Matthew 24:3 – Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?" These things of the end of the age, "And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" What do we look for?

And then we're going to pick it up in verse 10. Here are some of the things Christ said: 

Verse 10 – At the time of the end, "...many will be offended," this is the New King James translation, "...many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another."

Do we live in that time? Have you seen any of that in recent days, months, weeks? Looking at attitudes and spirit, things going on? I sure have. Tremendous anger, and, you know, Christ used the word "hate," so I guess He knows what He's talking about, that sometimes people let hurts, resentments, and anger bring about an attitude of hate toward, maybe brothers and sisters, even in Christ. Many will be offended. Now the NIV says, "Many will turn away from the faith." So we're going to see people, because of things that are happening in the world, in the church, in their personal lives, lose faith, turn away from the truth, turn away from God, betray one another, lie about one another, turn against one another, hate one another. Those are real things happening right now, aren't they? In the world and in the church. Not by everybody, but by some.

Verse 11"Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many."

Many false prophets, ministers, whatever. Brethren, you shouldn't believe anything I say unless it's directly from the word of God, or anything any minister says unless you can look it up and read it and it's from the Bible and that's exactly what it says and you're understanding what it means. I think we all have known over the years that any minister who is a true minister of Jesus Christ would say, "Don't believe me. Believe your Bible." That's what Mr. Armstrong used to say, right Aaron? "Don't believe me. Believe the Bible." Believe God, believe the word of God, because that's the truth. God does not change. His word is always true. We men can fall short or not have a right understanding sometimes; so when you're looking at any minister, you've got to know your Bible. I mean, you've got to be discerning and, "Do I hear and see and sense and feel God's Spirit? Is there a right attitude coming from that minister?" It's very important to ask that question. Or is he an angry minister? Is he a resentful minister? Is he this or that? I don't mean I'm trying to get you all to suspect every minister. I'm just saying what Jesus said. That's what He said and warned us about, in the end time.

Verse 12 – "And because lawlessness will abound," in the world around us, in the church, sure! I've been in the church long enough, there's been a lot of lawlessness, lots of sins; {the church is} composed of human beings. If you've got human beings in the church and they're imperfect, and the devil's there, always influencing people...I think we all have grown up enough to know that we want to put sin out of our lives and out of the church, but Satan is always there attacking. And we're weak, as human beings, and we fall short. So however you want to read this, we know that lawlessness will abound in the world around us, we know that; but sometimes it's when it happens in the church, that's when people really get turned off because, notice what Christ said in the rest of that verse, "because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold."

In other translations, like the NIV—and I looked it up again this morning—the New American Standard Bible, which is a very conservative translation, it says, "The love of MOST..." Both the NIV and the New American Standard Bible say that the love of MOST will turn cold, the love of most who knew the truth. The love of most will grow cold. My, when you look at how few there are remaining faithful and steadfast to God, that's true, isn't it, compared to what we were many, many years ago in numbers. The love of most has grown cold. A lot of people have just dropped out and turned off, completely. It's happening. And then Jesus went on to say:

Verse 13 – "But he who endures," again, sometimes other translations...endurance is a good word. But also others translate it, "he who stands firm," stands firm and strong to the very end, "shall be saved."

So there's a lot of enduring to do, there's a lot of standing firm to do in the face of all of the things that Satan throws at the church and God's people. Christ here is telling us ahead of time so that we can be emotionally, spiritually, mentally, in every way prepared for these things and not be thrown and not be misled by anybody. Just say, "Well, Christ said these things were going to happen."

Verses 21-22 – We know these well..."For then there will be great tribulation," that's what we're headed toward, "such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened," there would be nobody saved alive, "but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened."
That's good news, isn't it, brethren? Notice verse 44 of this chapter, Matthew 24, verse 44. Jesus said, "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming," when you all expect Him to come and when you know you'll be prepared. Is that what it says? No. "...be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." And a lot of people are going to be asleep. Let's notice that in chapter 25. A lot of Christians are not going to be ready.

Matthew 25:1-3 -- "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins," or bridesmaids, the New Living translation says, "who took their lamps," and "lamps" represents the word of God, the Bible. Proverbs says in a number of places that the law of God, the commandments of God are a lamp unto our feet. God's word and law show us how to walk. So "lamps" refers to the word of God. "...and went out to meet the bridegroom." So imagine Christians taking their Bible and they're going out to meet the bridegroom. "Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps," they got their Bibles, but they "took no oil with them..."

What does oil represent? We all know that. The minister carries anointing oil. Oil represents God's Holy Spirit, so there's a difference between having the Bible and knowing it intellectually and being a person who gets down on their knees, for those who can...I always say that those who have arthritis and can't kneel, can't humble themselves in that way, it's painful, and so it's OK to sit and pray or whatever you can do; but I say that those who take oil with them are those who know the tremendous need for the Spirit of God in order to properly understand the Bible and to be filled up with the love of God and the Spirit of God, the energy, the power of God. So we know there's a difference. Just knowing the truth, having the lamp, but not being a person...let's say you're not a praying person. The way the Spirit of God is renewed within us, when you read the word of God, it teaches, it instructs, it gives understanding, it does many things for us. But I find in my own personal life that just reading the Bible is not enough, that the way I find that God's Spirit is renewed within me is when I humble myself and pray to Him and look to Him and yield to Him and ask for that renewal of His Spirit within me to strengthen me. And so, remember that we need both, the lamps and the oil.

Here Christ is saying in verse 4, "The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps." They've got both. They've got the Bible and prayer and yielding to God and being renewed every day in the Spirit of God. The inward man is renewed day by day, Paul wrote.

And then, verse 5, "But while the bridegroom was delayed..."

Human beings have always been expecting Christ to come in their lifetime; and when it doesn't happen, people tend to get slack and lukewarm and slumber and sleep. Well, it isn't happening according to the dates that we said it was going to happen or was expected to happen. That's why we shouldn't set dates, but {we should} do what Jesus said. We'll take a look at more of those prophecies. Jesus told us exactly what to be looking for to know when we are closer. Not to set dates, but He gave us specific events in areas of the world to look at. He did, specifically. We know exactly where we should be looking and what we should be looking for. We'll see that in a little bit. And so, people begin to...as we all know, human nature. I'm a human being and I know my natural human nature is just to let down and get lazy. That's human nature. Without saying, "I can't do that; I can't let that happen," we would all begin to slumber spiritually.

Verse 6 – "At midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'"

Now, {there is} a very important lesson here. I know we've heard it before. Let's maybe just briefly review again. This is a warning from Christ to all of us, that we cannot grow for anyone else, spiritually. You can pray for others but you can't pray on behalf of others. In other words, if you know somebody you love, let's say you're a praying person but they don't pray, you can't say, "It's OK that you don't pray. I pray for you." It doesn't work. And if a person isn't developing that personal prayer life and personal relationship with God and being filled up with that oil in their lives, you're not going to be able to help them when the day comes because you don't grow in faith in a relationship with God just—phttt!—like that. It's something you learn and develop over a period of time—that yielded attitude, the daily habit of your spiritual life with God. It's something that each individual has to develop personally. Some do and some don't. That's just a fact.

I remember many years ago I handed out a card to people and said, "You don't have to write your name, I don't want you to write your name down, but," I said, "just to give me an idea...be honest, please be honest, just write down about how much time of your life,"—and it isn't so much just the time but the quality of your time with God as well—but I said, "just write down how much of your day or week is spent in this kind of a relationship with God, quality time with God," and it was surprising. Apparently, they were very honest, as some said, "Well, I haven't learned to pray yet." Some said, "Five minutes a day. I'm busy." So what Jesus is telling us here, all of us, me as well as you, He's telling us ahead of time, when that day comes, at the end of the age, if a person hasn't been doing this along the way and filling up with oil and doesn't have the faith and the courage or all those qualities that it's going to take just to say, "God, whatever happens, happens. I trust you," and stand strong and stand firm...it's going to take the Spirit of God and the power of God and the energy of God within each person. Here's what Jesus said:

Verse 8 – "And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil,'"

It's like someone saying, "Boy, I wish I had the faith that you have. Boy, I wish I had the trust in God that you do. Boy, I wish I had the character that you've got." You just can't do it for anybody else. And so, those who haven't been using their time wisely and building a personal relationship with God—and we live in frightening, scary times—and they realize that the end of the age is close by, that America is going down the tubes and serious problems are coming, Jesus says they're going to be running to those that have a relationship with God and saying, "Give me some of your oil. Can you help me? Can you give me some of your oil?"

Continuing verse 8, "But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us...'" It's not that you can give it to others. You can't. I think the lesson is that you just say, "You know, I wish that I could just transfer what God has helped me to learn to you instantly, but it doesn't work that way." "‘...go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'" The lesson here is, you've got to go to God, who gives it. You can't buy it, but the main point here is, go to God for the Holy Spirit.

Verse 10 says: "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came," and I've got this one really underlined in my Bible, "and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding," those who were ready went in, "and the door was shut."

So, that means that they have to go through the great tribulation to make it into God's Kingdom. I would hope that's what it means, not that they're shut out of the Kingdom of God, but possibly that. So that's one of those warnings that is very plain and clear in scripture from Jesus Christ, for His people at the time of the end. One of the most important lessons of all is right here in this scripture, and {that} is, while you have the time, now is the time and every day is the time, as you watch the Middle East, what should I be doing? "I want to understand all the details of prophecy. I want to be a prophecy expert." No! "God, help me to draw closer to You in my personal spiritual life." That's the big lesson.

Let's go on to read in this chapter verses 24-30:

Matthew 25:24 – "Then he who had received the one talent..." This is the parable of the talents. We all have talent, every one of us. Talent means that we have gifts and abilities from God. We're born with them; and God, when He gives us His Spirit, can help us to develop and grow, spiritually, and in our lives and be of greater service. And so, there's an important warning from Jesus right here. (There are many of them in the Bible.) But as we watch world events developing, these are things that we need to be doing. And here was a man who had been given a talent and called by God, and the man said, "‘... I knew you to be a hard man...'" That was his perspective of God. I don't know, everybody has their own perspective of God, right? We kind of think, when we pray to God, maybe everybody else who prays is visualizing or thinking of God in the same way we do, but they don't. I've known people who told me, because of things in their life or abusive people in their life, it was very hard for them to think of God as this loving, kind, gentle being. This man thought of God as a hard person, a hard man, in a wrong way. But Jesus goes on to say, "‘ reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. And look, here it is back. I'm giving you back your talent you gave to me.' But his Lord answered," verse 26, and that's Jesus, for us, "and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.'" So what he was saying, "You knew that what I wanted you to do was bear fruit and grow spiritually. I gave you time, I gave you food, the spiritual food, the motivation, services, I gave you fellowship. I gave you all of these things, other people to help you, encourage you, and the purpose was so that you would bear fruit and grow."

Verse 27 "‘So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers...you should have taken the talent that I gave you and put it to work...and at my coming I would have received back what I gave you with interest.'"

So what Christ is warning us here is, we'd better grow and bear fruit spiritually, and don't let anything or anybody get in your way, in a wrong way, or talk you out of it. Christ is...that's from Him. And then He adds this:

Verse 29 – "‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.'"

So as we heard in the sermonette, people will have all these excuses and reasons, "Well, I was afraid." I'm afraid, too, folks! I mean, every day I have to deal, just like you, with human emotions and human feelings and human anxieties and human stresses and human pressures; and if I listened to all those human things, I wouldn't get up in the morning and go do what I need to do! And so, I have to let God's Spirit override that; and despite how sometimes we're feeling in dealing with all of our humanness and anxieties or whatever it is, we make the right decision, to do what we know God wants us to do, to have the faith and the courage to do that. What He is saying here is people who do that, the people who just make a lot of excuses and have a lot of excuses, He says, "I'm going to take away from them what they have and give it to somebody who will put it to good use." And then, the scary scripture—and there are a number of them from Christ—verse 30, "‘And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

I don't think any of us want to end up the end of our life, the end of the age, falling into that category of just weeping and weeping and gnashing our teeth, "WHY DIDN'T I DO WHAT I KNEW I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO!" And there are people who know what they're supposed to do, but they're not doing it. The scriptures bring that out, and only God knows how to try to motivate them, which He does. So this is a warning, a loving warning, from Jesus Christ. He's telling us all ahead of time, "When the time of the end comes and it's all over, I want you to have been a profitable servant."

And that's what we want to emphasize now more in the ministry and in the church, in United. It is what we decided and agreed upon, the Council did. It had been called "Christ-centered servant leadership." It was decided to call it "serve as Christ serves." We're going to be emphasizing Jesus Christ and His example. "Christlike service" is actually what we'll be calling the program. Christlike service, and it's for everybody, not just the leaders and the ministry, but it's for every member. We all want to be Christlike servants. That's what Christ emphasized, so we hope to continue to talk about that and model it and do it and help one another. And many of you are—I'm not saying you're not. I'm just saying that as we look at the world and see things happening, like in the Middle East, it's not a time to be letting down. I can't let down—we cannot let down. We actually have to ramp up our efforts in the church and in the work of God, and God is giving us that opportunity to do that, so we want to be profitable servants, like Jesus.

That will be our theme, the culture that we're trying to develop in the church and in the ministry. Our next general conference of elders, which is coming up in May, it's interesting that the theme that had already been decided upon—we have a theme at every general conference of elders and then the seminars and presentations and discussions all revolve around that theme—the theme for the GCE in May is titled "Serve as Christ serves." That had already been decided before we decided on the title for our Christ-centered servant leadership program—Christlike service—so you can see what we're wanting to do in the United Church of God is to emphasize Christ and Christlike service and being like Him in spirit and in attitude and in heart. And these are warnings He gives people. People are not going to be able to say, "Well, nobody told me. Nobody warned me!" It's right here in the word of God, plain and clear, from Jesus Christ.

Let's go to Matthew, chapter 13, and read this parable about the wheat and the tares. I'll begin in verse 24. I think these are familiar parables to most of us.

Matthew 13:24-30 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared," like weeds growing, you know, in a good crop. "So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? And now it has these tares, these weeds?' He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up? Do you want us to pull up all the weeds?' But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.'" At times weeds grow right there, right next to it and they're almost part of the root system of the wheat or the crop. "‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

Drop down to verse 36, and He explains clearly the meaning of this parable. He said, verse 37, first, He said to them:

Verses 37-43 -- "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one." Sometimes there are those who are called sons of the wicked one. "The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age..." So again, we're talking about the end of this age. "...and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Again, indicating that a lot of people knew better. I can see why they're wailing and gnashing of teeth. They would never listen, never repent, never heed, never change, never grow. Not like you, God's people, you are doing that. And then Jesus said, "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

So many, many warnings. That's why this time of the year, as we approach the Passover, is a good time to really be digging into the gospels and the teaching of Jesus Christ as we prepare for Passover and take heed to these things and continue to help one another.

Let's go to Luke, chapter 21. Remember, earlier I was mentioning that Christ was very plain and clear what we need to be watching at the end time, what events, spelled it out very clearly, VERY clearly that it was at the time of the end, too. Beginning in verse 20:

Luke 21:20-24 – "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near." You and I know that the extreme radical Islamic nations hate Israel. Their main objective and goal is to destroy Israel. If they have to bring down America to do it, Britain to do it, fine. That's part of it. But they hate the Jews, they hate Israel. Satan has put that hate into their hearts. "...when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea," those who happen to be in that country, that area, at that time, let them "flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country," you know, outside, not be going there. "For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." Christ was referring here to the things written in Daniel and other prophecies, that He would quote. "For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." And you and I are living in these days, watching these things happen and develop. The king of the South and the king of the North, you can just see it coming. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!" Especially in those areas of the world. "For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles," so Christ was plain and clear, watch the Middle East. He said to watch Jerusalem. Watch what's happening over there in Israel. Watch the Gentile nations around them, the non-Israelite nations, because what we're heading toward and seeing happen is the rise of the Gentile nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles, "until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

I'm not going to turn back to Revelation 11, but in Revelation 11:2, it says that the Gentiles will trample the city of Jerusalem for forty-two months. Very specific, very clear, three and a half years. It tells exactly how long they will trample and control the holy city and that area, and that's the time that God raises up the two witnesses to do His work. So the encouraging thing to know and to always remember—Aaron and I sit and talk about this as we look at the budget in United and things we're going to have to do to move forward in doing the work of God—we know that doing God's work and doing His will is not about numbers and who's the biggest and who has the most this and that. It isn't about that. It's about God looking for a heart and an attitude, a spirit, a yieldedness to Him, because at the end of the age, the way He finishes the work of God on earth is only through two people. And He can pour out all kinds of power, which He does, upon those two witnesses. Many miracles. And so it's very clear.

Notice verses 27-28. "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen..."

What does God tell us to do, brethren? When these things begin to happen? They're beginning to happen now! They've been beginning to happen now for quite a while, but very clearly these things are beginning to happen, all the things that you and I have known and believed for many years and decades, going on in the world around us, of America beginning to...God's breaking the pride of our power. We know all of those things. We're so broke as a nation. I've been watching the news about what's happening in Wisconsin and they're broke and Ohio and all the states trying to balance their budgets and...we're broke, as a nation and as a people, we're deeply in debt. We exist and are surviving now by the grace of God, and that's the only reason. When God decides it's all over and pulls the rug out, we'll go down so fast, it's going to frighten people to death, and we know that. Jesus says, when these things begin to happen, what are we to do? Get all discouraged and sad and give up and quit? No, He says, in verse 28, "Look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

Verse 31 – "So you also, when you see these things happening," and He just spoke about the Middle East and Jerusalem, "when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near." So, you and I, certainly we're not going to set dates and say we know it's going to come in five years or ten or fifteen or twenty. We can't do that and we shouldn't do that; but, my, if we're watching what's going on in the world and even in the Church of God, seeing Satan's wrath and His anger in His attacks on the church, to try to divide the church so that we cannot do a work, all of these are signs of the time of the end, knowing the Kingdom of God is near. What does Christ, in verse 34, again, what are His warnings and admonitions to us:

Verses 34-35 – "But take heed to yourselves," He's talking to God's people, the disciples, "take heed," check yourself. You can't do it for anybody else, but you can take heed to yourself. Don't let your heart "be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life," you know, get side-tracked. Stay focused, sothat day doesn't "come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth."

Most people don't understand and are going to be so busy just involved in life and in their goals and in their desires in life and what's most important to them. They're not focusing on God and what really matters and what really is important, not as they should; and they're going to be caught off guard by all these events. And so, what this well-known verse, verse 36—many wonderful verses in the Bible, this is certainly one of them, brethren, where Jesus told us that we don't have to go through hell in the end time. You know, our main motivation to be in God's church is not to escape with our lives; but, you know, it's not a bad thing if you do, right? It's not wrong.

I like what Jesus said. He told His disciples in verse 36 to, "Watch," that means be alert, be aware of what's going on,"and pray always," so there's that thing of the oil, "pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass..." Why did Jesus say that? Because it is possible, and because many will be protected and blessed and spared the horrors that are going to come to pass in this end-time age, "...that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man."

So that's a very positive and encouraging verse from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. But if He chooses someone to be a martyr, like the two witnesses, then that's...He'll pick people that He knows can handle that. The two witnesses, whoever they are, and when He raises them up, they're going to know ahead of time how they're going to die, because it's written in scripture. They know. But He'll choose people who say, "Bring it on." So here's a warning, as we watch world events. "Take heed to yourselves."

Let's close, brethren. I want to summarize these warnings from Jesus Christ with three points on things that we can be doing, so that we heed these warnings. We've read these things before; we know they're there; but let's bring it down to three things that we should be doing. I'm sure many of you, you've been doing these for years, many of you. So my encouragement to you is, don't let up. Let us help one another to keep going. Here's the first one of these three final points:

1. Let's keep our heart in God's church and in His work, no matter what.

Christ emphasized that over and over and over. But let's maintain our zeal and enthusiasm for God and His church and His work. Don't let anyone in a bad attitude turn you off on God or God's church, His people, those who are converted, those who love Him, no matter who they are, where they are, as part of God's people, God's church. The United Church of God, we're part of the Church of God, the people of God. And so, it's very important, God says in scripture, don't let any human being, you know, people can get into wrong attitudes and can just become discouraged, negative, or, "I don't want to be a part of any of these lousy churches...look at these ministers. They're always causing division in the church!" Hey, look beyond us. Look beyond human beings. Look to God! He uses fallible, imperfect human beings, even in the ministry, right? Yes, He does. Look beyond. Look to God and say, "God, what big lessons are you wanting me to learn through all these trials in my life and in the church?"

One of the obvious ones is put your faith where it should be—in God! Trust in Him. Keep your nose in the Bible and you will not let anybody turn you off on being a part of God's church and God's work. And if they're getting all disillusioned—and there are lots of people, I'm fully aware of that, who are out there, independent, and don't want to be a part of anything. "No, I don't want to be a part of any organized thing. Look what happened...blah, blah, blah." I just feel sorry for them. I really do. I just, boy, I hope they'll grow up before it's too late and become an active, dynamic part of the church and the work of God; or they're going to be weeping and gnashing their teeth someday, if they let their anger, resentment, and bitterness cause them to not get in there and become a part of the church and the work of God. They didn't learn and they didn't grow. They just dropped out. And that's one of the things we cannot allow to happen.

Keep your heart in God's church and in His work, and don't let any human being turn you off on God and the church and the work of God. Just keep learning.

The second lesson that we can learn, brethren...there are many lessons to learn. These are just kind of a summary of three key critical and important ones that I think Christ emphasizes. The second one I've got is:

2. Love and serve our brethren in the faith fervently.

Maintain that love for the brethren and a desire to serve one another and love one another and keep growing in that. Christ emphasized that as being so very important. If we don't learn to do it better and love one another, it's a big mistake. Notice 1 Peter, chapter 4, verse 8. Peter learned it and God used him to write this.

1 Peter 4:8 – And above all things, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.

We don't condone sin; we don't approve sin; sin is bad. It's wrong in all of our lives; but the love of God and the love for one another will help you to help somebody, no matter what their problem is, no matter what their addiction may be, no matter what they're struggling with, what sin in their life, you love them. You love them, and you give them help and support and encouragement. Pull one another out of the fire, you know, it says back, I think in Titus or somewhere back there. You know, God can use us if we have enough of the love of God. No matter what a person is struggling with, no matter what attitude he's in, you try to look through it. Even if they're angry and mad at you and attacking you, just don't do back that way. Forgive. Forgiveness is a big one. LeeAnn and I are doing a lot of studying and reading and talking about forgiveness and the importance of forgiveness; and so, loving and serving our brethren in the faith, fervently, is very important, Christ emphasized.

And then, thirdly

3. Grow in God's love for people in this world around us.

Not just the brethren, but let us grow in God's love for people in this world around us and let us give our lives for them. Let us lay down our lives and be living sacrifices in God's church and in God's work, knowing what's coming. Our neighbors, our workmates, people that sometimes maybe we don't like too well or get along too well with, God says to love them and pray for them. You don't have to like them and like what they're doing, but God wants us to grow in love for people.

Let's close with John 3:16, a well-known scripture, but a powerful one. In this point...and I hope that we in United can develop our programs within the church that have to do with helping people who are struggling, that God is calling out of homosexuality. I want us to keep growing and learning how to help people who have addictions of all kinds in their lives because as God calls people out of the world, they're going to have all kinds of problems, as you know. We do. And they're going to have needs. We're going to need to have people who have that love, saying, "Look, we're all sinners, and God calls people out of sin and out of the world, and the church is a place of healing. The church is a place where you come to overcome sin and get support and help and encouragement and you learn God's way and you become motivated and you want to come out of sin, you want to get help with your problems and your addictions." You seek it, you pray about it, and it's available within the church, where ministers and elders and leaders, brethren, who all...we're not self-righteous, but we love God and His way and we want to love the people of this world. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I...you'll hear me talk about, occasionally, homosexuality, because it's an area that I've worked in to try to help people that God is calling. Sometimes I get a little—but I don't let it bother me too much—but people will use that and they'll say, "Oh, yeah, look, they're going to get all liberal. They're going to accept homosexuals in the church and they're going to..." Don't worry about that, brethren. All I know is we'd better be the way Jesus was and the way Paul was when he wrote the Corinthians, "Such were some of you, but now you are sanctified through Jesus Christ."

So God calls people, and I know people in the congregations of the churches of God who have...rarely will you find some who are struggling with certain things like that, unless they come into a group of people with leaders who understand where they're coming from and coming out of certain problems in their life, you would never know. They would never share it with anybody because of the nature of it and the way people look at it. So my point is, when God calls people out of the world into His church, there can be all kinds of, we could say, secret sins and problems, of all kinds imaginable—anything and everything—and Jesus Christ said that part of the gospel message that God has called me to preach is to heal the broken hearted. Our world is filled with a lot of broken-hearted, hurting people. Maybe people trapped by Satan in sinful addictions and sinful lifestyles who need to find a home in the church of God that has the truth of God, teaches the truth of God, but also has the love, mercy, and compassion and understanding that our doors are open to all of God's people, and anyone with any problem who wants support and help, love and encouragement, because that's the way God is. God loves sinners. God LOVES sinners with His whole heart and soul and mind and being and gave His life for sinners, every sinner, all of us, didn't He?

Let's close with John 3:16. So let us grow. Jesus Christ emphasized this, to "follow My example." Let us grow in love for the people of this world around us and let us give our lives for them. So we'll close with John 3:16-17:

John 3:16-17 –  For God so loved the world, loved the people of this world. God so loved the sinners of this world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Every single one of them, any of them. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

So, brethren, keep watching world events, watch the Middle East especially. As Jesus said, keep your eyes on Jerusalem, and let us heed the warnings of Jesus Christ and let us help one another to draw closer to God, to become more zealous for God, to love one another and love the people of this world, and let us keep moving forward in the United Church of God to do the work that God has called us to do.